Burst

It was serendipity. I was in line at the consignment shop with a couple of things, and I glanced over at a little rack that had bracelets on it. I'm not normally a bracelet person, as my wrists always seem to be kind of thick for bracelets (yeah, it sounds goofy to me too). One bracelet caught my eye, and I tried it on. It had to pass the "can I get it on and off by myself" test, which it did. It fit, it was a good price, it was my kind of funky, and I bought it.

I was hardly out to my car when I thought, "I could make these, and sell them on Etsy". And ever since then, this idea, this thing that wants to get made, this anticipatory feeling like I'm going to make something artsy, attractive, upcycled and cool, has been simmering in the back of my brain like a pot of spaghetti sauce on the stove. I LOVE that feeling, being in a place where I'm working on something creative like this. There's a great TED talk by Elizabeth Gilbert, the author of "Eat Pray Love" that talks about this kind of creativity, that's worth checking out. She's lovely and humble.

So this idea, these bracelets, have some upcycled pieces on a bracelet blank (as I have learned they are called), and I've been gathering materials this week. A couple of visits to Ebay, a trip or two to the craft store, once to Amazon, rummaging around in my junk drawers. You know, it's got this mad scientist mojo to it that has been fun. I'm waiting for stuff to arrive in the mail before I can really get going on it, but will post some photos once the first ones are done.

And the best part? Well, one of the best parts, is that I'm going to propose going into business on this with Mr W. I thought he'd be good at taking stuff apart, and sorting the pieces so I can use those for the bracelets. I'll pay him by the piece or something, and he can earn some dough while he works with his hands. Z&Me is what I'm thinking of calling our little venture.

Now, if I could just come up with an idea for a Halloween costume.